Flylal suspends operations

19 Jan 2009 by Mark Caswell

Lithuania’s national carrier Flylal has become the latest victim of the economic downturn, with all flights being grounded from January 17.

Flylal flew daily from London Gatwick to Lithuania’s capital of Vilnius. A statement on the carrier’s website said that over 29,000 passengers would be affected by the suspension of services, although it’s not clear how many of these are due to be taking Flylal flights over the next few days.

The statement blamed “unfair market conditions, record-high oil prices and low demand for winter season flights” as the main reason for Flylal’s downfall, and it continued that the carrier would file for bankruptcy if no proposals “for future airline development” are received.

The suspension of flights leaves just Air Baltic (owned by the government of Latvia, with SAS holding a 47 per cent share) as the only scheduled carrier flying from London to Vilnius.